There’s loads that come close (I shall refrain from listing them all), but the one that I always come back to has to be Sunday 8pm by Faithless. I never tire of listening to it, there’s such a mix of styles, and not something you’d expect if all you’ve ever heard of Faithless is their chart stuff (God is a DJ, Insomnia, We Come 1). God is a DJ is the only “charty” Faithless track on the album. Huge beats, a real anthem. Then in contrast to these massive beats Sunday 8pm, the title track, is a mellow trance affair.
While I’m not a massive fan of Dido, I do think her vocals suit the stuff she’s done with Faithless better than her usual delicate (but admittedly catchy) love songs. She haunts Hem Of His Garment like a musical ghoul, matching the ethereal quality of the tune. The Boy George version of Why Go? is infinitely more emotional and thus far superior to Estelle’s more recent Faithless collaboration.
Then Killer’s Lullaby finishes things off with a heavy heart. Who says you have to put on an American accent to rap? Maxi Jazz must have missed that memo – Or I’m more inclined to believe he read it, screwed it up and threw it in a bin. I love his voice, his rhymes, the off-beat rhythm he keeps, the accent, everything. This album came out in 1998 by the way, long before Dizzee Rascal’s distinctive non-American raps.
Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss, Rolo, I salute you. One hell of a fine album you put together there.
Hey, I bet you thought my favourite album of all time would’ve been something by The Prodigy, didn’t you? 😛
